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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, JULY 14, 2004 CAPPS II Delayed by Privacy Concerns Alliance Between Movie Studios and Tech ICANN Report Highly Critical of Site Finder Contention over Cell Phone 411 Database Dell, HP Up the Ante for Recycling Programs CAPPS II DELAYED BY PRIVACY CONCERNS David Stone, acting administrator for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), told a Congressional committee this week that concerns over protection of personal privacy have delayed the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) and that the system would not begin screening airline passengers this summer as scheduled. CAPPS II, which screens passenger information to try to assess the risk they pose, is intended to replace an existing passenger-screening system and to increase the security of airline travel. Critics of the system, however, have long argued that it will not be effective at identifying terrorists and that it is unnecessarily intrusive. Stone told the committee that the TSA sees protection of personal freedoms as "first and foremost" and that CAPPS II would be delayed until such protection can be assured. Stone offered no specifics on how or when the system would be modified, though he said he expects "a decision on the shape of the new program" in the coming weeks. Wired News, 14 July 2004 http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,64201,00.html ALLIANCE BETWEEN MOVIE STUDIOS AND TECH A newly announced partnership among major movie studios and technology companies promises to increase copyright protection for movies while giving consumers greater freedom to watch films on a range of household devices. Currently, competing formats and approaches to copy protection mean that many movies cannot be played on TVs, home computers, and portable movie players. Under the new agreement, movie studios Walt Disney and Warner Brothers will work with technology companies including IBM, Microsoft, Sony, and Toshiba to create a common format and content-management technology that will control how and where the content can be used. Studios could specify, for example, how many times a particular movie could be played before it "expires." The new standard should allow users to play movies on devices from a range of manufacturers, and the content-management tools will limit copyright infringement. Analyst Richard Doherty called the alliance "the complete food pyramid," saying it includes cooperation from all of the "diverse groups that affect the next generation of digital delivery." Wall Street Journal, 14 July 2004 (sub. req'd) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB108975778647462848,00.html ICANN REPORT HIGHLY CRITICAL OF SITE FINDER The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has issued a report highly critical of VeriSign's Site Finder service. Last September, VeriSign launched the service, which redirects users who type misspelled domain names or those that do not exist to the VeriSign site. The service promptly drew complaints from ICANN and network administrators, who said it was inappropriate for VeriSign, which has a monopoly on .com and .net addresses, to send those users to its own site. Critics also said Site Finder caused other services that attempt to validate Internet addresses to fail. VeriSign disabled the service after ICANN's early objections but has worked to have it restarted. The new report, written by ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee, said the service does not meet "community standards and caused harm to individual users and enterprises" and called for a permanent injunction against the service. For its part, VeriSign contends that Site Finder is a better solution to mistyped URLs than cryptic error messages and that the problems is caused were "minor or inconvenient." CNET, 13 July 2004 http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5267759.html CONTENTION OVER CELL PHONE 411 DATABASE A planned directory-assistance database of cell-phone numbers is raising concerns among civil liberties groups and industry analysts about protecting the privacy of cell-phone users. Officials from the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) said the 411 directory would require customers to opt-in to be included and so presents no risk to individual privacy. Some critics, however, question whether the directory could have sufficient enrollment to be sustainable unless an opt-out approach is used. Verizon Wireless has said it will not provide its customers' names and numbers to the directory, but the company's user agreement says that Verizon may submit customer numbers to a directory unless users pay a fee to be excluded. According to Adam Goldberg of Consumers Union, in such a situation, Verizon could at any time decide to change its policy and the user agreements could be taken as permission to opt-in to the directory. Because of the uncertainties surrounding the directory and its implementation, some are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the directory. Officials from CTIA argued that government regulation is not necessary, saying the list will only be opt-in and that no fees will be charged to be either included or excluded from the directory. Wired News, 13 July 2004 http://www.wired.com/news/wireless/0,1382,64185,00.html DELL, HP UP THE ANTE FOR RECYCLING PROGRAMS Leading computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard have announced new recycling initiatives for computers and other electronics. From late July until early September, HP will accept PCs and other electronic devices at Office Depot locations across the country for no charge. Under Dell's offer, the company will pick up old computers and accessories from homes. There is also no charge for Dell's recycling program, but to qualify for the program, consumers must purchase a new computer from the company. The fact that two of the largest computer makers are competing for the title of most environmentally friendly contrasts with the state of affairs not long ago, when most manufacturers fought the notion that they should bear some responsibility for recycling old hardware. According to Kate Krebs, executive director of the National Recycling Coalition, "They started a year ago with their arms across their chests saying no and here they are now almost competing." San Jose Mercury News, 14 July 2004 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9149940.htm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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